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At a time when some feel that Western civilization is at a moment of crisis – and in which many are taking stock and looking for meaning – this chapter introduces a book which looks, as so many previous generations have looked, to the great literature of the past for some insight, and perhaps even for some guidance. Crucially responding to the call to update the methods and assumptions of literary analysis, this chapter builds on the author’s previous books, Shakespeare’s History Plays (2012) and Shakespeare and Cognition (2015) in seeking to move beyond historicism by adapting concepts taken from latest psychological research. This chapter is divided into two parts. The first outlines history Moral Foundations Theory (“MFT”), pioneered by Jonathan Haidt. The second refines the latest thought on literary character and cognition, before expanding on how it might be usefully employed in approaching the question of morality in Shakespeare’s plays.

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This ground-breaking study fearlessly combines latest research in evolutionary psychology, historical scholarship and philosophy to answer a question that has eluded critics for centuries: what is Shakespeare’s moral vision? At a political and cultural moment in which many of us are taking stock and looking for meaning, and in which moral outrage and polarisation seem endemic, this book radically reimagines how we might approach great works of literature to find some answers.

Over the past decade, Theory has given way to the archive. This article aims to gain a clearer view of the current state of critical practice by surveying a range of recent studies of Shakespeare and asking fundamental questions about their methodology and underlying assumptions. It also examines how the once commonplace distinction between scholars and critics became blurred in the years following new historicism and cultural materialism. Finally, it turns to consider the possible consequences of a discipline dominated by historical scholarship. © 2013 © 2013 Neema Parvini